Thread: New Zealand Gunsmiths pitfalls and perils? or good service? Reviews. PROPOSAL

I want to propose something, if it's not agreed upon by the members, It'll get deleted. I'll get some feedback on the proposal before any reviews should be done.

I would like a thread for people to share the good and bad experiences with NZ gunsmiths.
I don't want it to turn into a name and shame affair, but, we all over time will probably spend a lot of money and not to mention time with our firearms out of action at gunsmiths. We should be able to make a choice based on work history.

A no bullshit and frank assessment of what you wanted, then received and the problems (if any) you perceived with the work, if you were impressed with the work a short summary of why, a summary of (if you followed it up or had a problem) post work customer service/rectification, approximate date, and who you dealt with. It would be preferable that it was only your own dealings as rumours, bullshit, and hearsay aren't welcome.

Far from a slag off or fanboy butt kissing of any of the businesses I think it would be a valuable resource for them, criticisms of businesses, like wise compliments, should be treated like gold to business operators in my opinion (how do you know what you need to change/shouldn't change or what you are doing wrong/right if no one ever bloody tells you?). Most importantly it would be a bloody valuable resource for consumers to make an assessment of who they would like to send their valuable firearms and spend their hard earned - something we totally lack in NZ is anyway of assessing a gunsmith other than snippets of feedback from people with now way of knowing what they had done by the gunsmith to form their opinion (could be something far removed from what you want and the particular gunsmith may lack skills in areas).

I would also propose that you supply the contact details for the gunsmith you "mini review" - (only those that they would normally make available for business contact) so people wanting similar work can use your review to make their choice and know who and how to contact.

So Maybe a template is in order?

Approximate Date:
Gunsmith or company - if a company, who did the work, if you know:
Work carried out:
Complaints or complements:
Were you satisfied?:
Rectification of problem if any/ customer service:
Gunsmiths contact:
Anything relevant to add:

A few rules:
Only reviews, period.
If some one posts something like, "well I've had work done by X for years and never a problem" it should be deleted. They are however perfectly free to write a few reviews detailing the work and their experience with said gunsmith. (this will have to be a solid rule as it'll turn into a bunfight with handbags swinging everywhere)

Suggestion:
This type of thing lends it self to reporting of extremes. Most likely the over reporting of bad work, or conversely exceptional work. Please consider just writing a review for nothing out of the ordinary just as much "had some work done, was sent back, work as wanted" type of thing.

Disclaimer:
A review is a statement of the gunsmiths performance for the work which was described, it may not reflect their overall performance. Everyone has a bad day, however, no one should let a bad day leave the workshop in the shape of a poorly done job.

I get where you're coming from, but end of the day I dont think this is the place for it

Iv never had any work done on my rifles but do plan to(once Iv payed of my bloody 11.5k engine )
I like the idea but as stated would have to be Dare I say it "moderated" to avoid the inevitable shitfight.

I think it would be good, especially for those of us who are new to getting our toys modified. Its not a well advertised profession, they can be hard to find.

Wont be happening here though

There are enough guys putting up stuff they are getting done that you can PM them

Originally Posted by Spanners

Wont be happening here though

There are enough guys putting up stuff they are getting done that you can PM them

Good call, it will get too emotive far too quickly with half the story being told leading to real quick

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Good call, it will get too emotive far too quickly with half the story being told leading to real quick

Yes, and generally the person/service being canned doesn't get to reply till the damage is done. Its happened on other forums, doesn't need to happen here.

Originally Posted by Spanners

Wont be happening here though

There are enough guys putting up stuff they are getting done that you can PM them

Ok fair enough it was allways going to be dodgy.

Lucky I could throw a rock at Gregs work from mine then